Two people were killed and at least five others were injured in a shooting at Seattle Center on Sunday night as the civic center complex hosted a major food festival.

Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Grace Nuñez said that its first responders attempted lifesaving efforts for two patients but were unsuccessful.

The others injured were described as a 2-year-old boy, a 40-year-old woman; a 39-year-old woman; a 23-year-old man; and a 56-year-old woman. The 56-year-old woman was said to be in serious condition at Harborview, the 40-year-old woman had minor injuries and declined to be transported to the hospital, and the rest of the patients were stabilized at Harborview.

Nuñez said the patients’ ages were approximate.

Speaking on X, the Seattle Police Department stated, “multiple shooting victims.” It asked members of the public to stay away as detectives and officers try to determine what happened.

A spokesperson for the University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center, the region’s highest-level trauma center, said it expects to receive patients from the shooting. The spokesperson did not yet have the number of patients or their conditions.

The Bite of Seattle food festival was wrapping up its annual event Sunday, the final of its three days. It wasn’t clear whether the event was involved in the shooting. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Esten Wakonabo was waiting in line with his girlfriend for a photo booth when people around them started running furiously, he told NBC affiliate KING TV of Seattle.

“It was a stampede,” he said.

Not long afterward, Wakonabo said, he noticed people on the ground, some with obvious gunshot wounds.

“There’s bodies everywhere,” he said of those on the ground who appeared to be injured. “I mean, I counted eight.”

Paul Skinner was helping to operate a Bite of Seattle booth when chaos erupted, he said.

“We just heard what at first sounded like firecrackers, but it’s just a little too crowded for that kind of thing,” he told KING. “So then, when the crowd started moving quickly in herds, you knew it was something was happening.”

He added, “We all got down and took cover.”

The civic center complex that grew into the Seattle Center included core structures erected for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, including the Coliseum, the Seattle Center Monorail and the Space Needle. 

This is a developing story. Check back later for updates…

Mandatory evacuations were underway in parts of Tuolumne County on Sunday due to a vegetation fire that has burned over 100 acres, according to the sheriff’s office.

The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that the fire sparked in the area of ​​Highway 108 and Stockton Road. Authorities initially reported that the fire, named the Dove Fire, had burned 166 acres and was spreading at a “dangerous” rate. They later said that the fire was spreading at a moderate rate.

Here’s what to know as of 7 p.m.

Mandatory evacuation areas

As of 7 p.m., the sheriff’s office said mandatory evacuations were underway in the following areas:

• McKibbon Drive
• Golden Dove Lane
• Crooked Lane
• Southgate Road
• Stockton Road
• Silver Pine Lane
• South Side of Mono from Greenley to Washington
• Golden Dove
• The Silos (on Washington St) to Hospital Rd
• Beretta Sreet. from Washington/Restano/Mono to Lyons Road

Evacuation centers for people, animals and cooling centers

Tuolumne CRC opened at around 5:30 p.m. as an evacuation center. The temporary animal shelter is located at Animal Control (10040 Victoria Way, Jamestown) and the shelter for large animals is located at Posse Grounds (19130 Rawhide Rd, Jamestown).

Adittionally, the Tuolumne County Transit Center, located at 12879 Justice Ct, in Sonora, was opened as a cooling center for unhoused people and for those in Camp Justice.

Areas under evacuation warning

The following areas are under evacuation notice:

• S Washington St. to Barretta St.
• Martha Lane
• Outlook Drive
• South Stewart Street
• South Shepherd Street
• Beretta Street
• Washington Street from Highway 108 to the Red Church (Shell Street)

Road closures

Authorities also announced the following road closures:

• Highway 108 between Wigwam Rd and Mono Way
• Stockton Rd and Woodside
• Washington St from Highway 108 to the Red Church
• Mono Way from Greenley into downtown Sonora
• Snell St
• Bonanza Rd
• Pesce Way

Firefighters were battling a vegetation fire in Santa Clara County Sunday afternoon.

Cal Fire said the fire, dubbed the Mines Fire, sparked in the area of Mines Road north of Del Puerto Canyon Road at around 2 p.m. It is estimated to have burned 132 acres and has a moderate rate of spread.

The fire is 10% contained and firefighters stopped the blaze from growing, officials said.

This is a developing story. Details may change as more information becomes available. Stay tuned for updates.

The four American troops killed during renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran in recent weeks are no longer listed as part of the Iran war death toll in the Pentagon’s official casualty count but have been placed in a new, separate category.

It is raising questions about properly counting the impact to U.S. service members as the Trump administration has escalated strikes on Iran in a bid to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while providing little indication of how it intends to wind down a conflict that is unpopular with many Americans.

The Defense Casualty Analysis System, which Pentagon officials have repeatedly pointed to as the definitive source on the numbers of dead and wounded from the conflict, removed the four fallen soldiers as well as dozens of wounded troops from its Iran war tally last week.

On Sunday, a new category called “Overseas Operations” emerged on the system’s website, listing the four Army deaths by name as well as 207 wounded. It was unclear if all of the wounded were injured in the Iran conflict.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, referred questions to the Pentagon, which, along with the White House, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Pentagon described earlier changes to the system as ‘data disruptions’

Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez argued Thursday that the drop in casualty figures in the online system was not an effort to hide the growing human toll of the war but rather the result of “anomalies” and “temporary data disruptions” that were being resolved “imminently.”

As late as Tuesday, the website was reporting the war’s official toll as 18 killed and 482 wounded.

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It appeared to reflect that four soldiers had been killed since fighting resumed despite the signing of an interim ceasefire deal last month — three on a base in Jordan that was struck July 17 by Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, and one in Iraq a day later during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.

Adding further confusion, when the Pentagon announced two of the deaths in Jordan, it said the troops were supporting the U.S. mission to counter the Islamic State group. The other two were announced in press releases simply as supporting overseas operations.

President Donald Trump has confirmed the total, writing in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that the “Iran Military Conflict” had claimed 18 lives.

By Wednesday, the Iran war figures in the Pentagon’s system fell back to 14 dead and 420 wounded. However, a U.S. official told The Associated Press at the time that the actual number of wounded personnel in the war had actually grown to well over 500 troops.

The Pentagon’s top spokesman, Sean Parnell, took to social media that day to assert that the reported drop was a “temporary data disruption.”

New category lists casualties following date of renewed fighting

The U.S. and Israel launched the war in Iran on Feb. 28, and 14 troops were killed in the initial waves of fighting. Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in April and then signed an interim deal to end the war in mid-June.

It was short-lived. Iran struck three merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on July 7 that were transiting along a route near the coast of Oman overseen by the U.S. military. American forces launched strikes in response to the attacks on vessels in the key energy shipping corridor. Trump soon declared that the ceasefire was over.

The Pentagon system’s new “Overseas Operations” category says it tallies casualties starting July 7.

Since then, the U.S. and Iran have exchanged regular fire in a bid to control the crucial waterway, with the U.S. hitting Iranian targets nightly for nearly two weeks and Tehran responding with attacks on neighboring countries hosting American forces. There have been no strikes for two nights as mediators push for diplomacy.

Since the renewed hostilities began, the Pentagon has provided even less information about military strategy and casualties than it did during the first phase of the conflict. The Pentagon has not held a press briefing about the war since early May, and officials at U.S. Central Command have stopped providing casualty updates to reporters.

Pentagon officials such as Valdez and Parnell have insisted that the DCAS website is proof of the commitment to transparency about the number of dead and injured in the war.

Loved ones of the San Francisco woman who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at San Francisco International Airport earlier this week say they have received phone calls from her while she is being held at the California City ICE Detention Facility.

They said that after phone system issues throughout the day, they were able to get a call from her Saturday night, where she told them she is meeting other detainees at the facility who also live in San Francisco and were also arrested recently at airports, including at San Francisco International Airport.

Friends said this woman is Iryna Gorb, who has lived in San Francisco for 10 years and is known by many as a barista, photographer and friend.

“She works at a cafe called Better Half, she’s worked at a few others in her time here,” said her friend Andy Eblin of San Francisco. Eblin said Gorb called him Wednesday evening from the Stockton ICE Field Office, where she told him she was taken immediately after her arrest. Since then, he said she has been taken to the California City Detention Facility.

Eblin has been able to receive several phone calls from Gorb in the days since, and has been working with a group of more than a dozen of her friends to coordinate logistical and legal support. He noted that the length of the allowed phone calls she can make varies significantly, and that for most of the day Saturday her calls did not go through.

“She would be the first one to want me to say, this is part of a bigger story,” Eblin noted.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to NBC Bay Area that they arrested Gorb, whom they identified as being from Ukraine, at SFO on Wednesday.

“When officers approached Gorb, she attempted to flee and resisted arrest,” a DHS spokesperson said, adding that Gorb overstayed her visa by 15 years and will “remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”

The arrest was captured on video Wednesday night at the Harvey Milk Terminal of SFO by Richmond City Council member Doria Robinson, showing Gorb screaming, pinned down on the ground by two men.

The men appear to be in plainclothes and did not respond in the video to questions from others in the airport about who they work with or why they are arresting her. Robinson said the men handcuffed Gorb and carted her away in a wheelchair.

That video has now been shared widely across many accounts and news outlets on social media.

“That video has helped a ton with attention,” said Eblin, “it’s impossible for me to watch, but without it, we wouldn’t have had the response we’ve had.”

NBC Bay Area asked the Department of Homeland Security about the video and about why the officers are not seen wearing identifying clothing and did not respond to questions about who they work for.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded, “When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as law enforcement.”

Robinson maintains that at no point when she was recording the video or when she was in the terminal did she see the men wearing any identifying clothing. She also said she did not hear the men say who they worked for or what they were doing.

Gorb’s friends said that she has many contacts in the arts and fashion community in San Francisco and that she had her own vintage shop out of a studio in the city for a while. Eblin said that when Gorb first called him from ICE custody, she told him to let her manager at the coffee shop know that she wouldn’t be able to work and to let her friends know that she would be unable to watch their cats for them.

Gorb’s case is getting focus from elected officials as well.

San Francisco Supervisor Danny Sauter described the video of her arrest as “sickening.”

“I’m in touch with immigration lawyers and legal defense partners who are supporting Iryna,” Sauter said. “She also has the strength of countless friends and neighbors who know her as the valued part of San Francisco that she is.”

State Sen. Scott Wiener also condemned Gorb’s arrest and said in a statement, “Iryna Gorb made a home in San Francisco and is one of many people who help make San Francisco run. She is part of our community.”

Gorb’s friends said they have been in touch with Wiener’s office as well as the offices of other local elected officials, sharing concern about growing reports of ICE arrests at airports.

Several Bay Area immigration attorneys told NBC Bay Area that they have been hearing about an uptick in ICE arrests at airports in recent weeks and are advising clients not to fly.

Gorb’s friends said she is working with an attorney and is making a petition for her release.

More than 30,000 athletes crossed the finish line Sunday as the 49th annual San Francisco Marathon concluded along the Embarcadero.

The two-day event featured a 52.4-mile ultramarathon and a traditional 26.2-mile marathon, alongside half marathon, 10K and 5K races.

Participants ran past iconic city landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, Golden Gate Park, Haight-Ashbury and Oracle Park.

The double-loop ultramarathon began at 10:15 p.m. Saturday. Runners completed an overnight 26.2-mile loop before joining the main body of full marathoners at 5:15 a.m. Sunday.

“The energy across San Francisco this weekend was nothing short of remarkable,” race director Lauri Abrahamsen said. “Watching ultra-runners start in the dark on Saturday night and merge with thousands of full and half marathoners as the sun rose over the Bay Bridge is a testament to the grit, unity, and passion of this community. We congratulate every runner who took on the hills and crossed our finish line.”

The race continued its tradition of inclusive athleticism across male, female and nonbinary+ divisions.

Unofficial top finishers in the 26.2-mile full marathon included Garret Patrick of Daly City, California, who led the male division with a time of 2:26:25. Leandra Zimmerman of San Francisco won the female division in 2:45:14, and Tony Solis of Chino, California, topped the nonbinary+ division at 3:20:28.

In the 52.4-mile ultramarathon, Spencer Fluetsch of Merced, California, secured first place in the male division with a time of 10:12:36. Kelly Cockell of Peoria, Arizona, took first in the female division, finishing in 11:22:27.

The San Francisco Marathon was established in 1977. Full race results, division standings and age-group placings are available on the official race website, www.thesfmarathon.com.

Registration is currently open for the 50th anniversary race, which is scheduled for July 24-25, 2027.

A fire in Sunol has burned 5 acres of grass and brush and has the potential to grow to 50 acres, according to aerial fire crews.

The blaze was reported in the 1800 block of Geary Road. As of 10:23 a.m. Sunday, Air Attack crews on the scene reported the fire was burning upslope with a slow to moderate rate of spread.

Firefighters have stopped the forward progression of the blaze and laid hose lines around the fire, officials said.

All air tankers and aerial attack crews have been released from the scene, but ground resources will remain committed for extensive mop-up operations.

Grassroots members of the Bay Area Iranian community and their allies will gather Sunday at Oakland’s Snow Park to protest ongoing military action against Iran and advocate for peace, human rights and self-determination.

The independent demonstration will take place July 26 from noon to 2 p.m. near Lake Merritt. Organizers emphasized that the event is organized by individuals acting in their personal capacities. It is entirely community-led and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or representing any political party, nonprofit organization, government or advocacy group.

The demonstration calls for an immediate end to the U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran, alongside the protection of civilian lives and critical infrastructure. Protesters are also demanding the release and protection of political prisoners and respect for the Iranian people’s right to determine their own future, free from both war and dictatorship.

Organizers reject the notion that war or foreign military intervention can bring democracy or justice to Iran. Instead, they argue that armed conflict disproportionately harms civilians, destroys infrastructure and cultural heritage, strengthens authoritarian governments and undermines the Iranian people’s long-standing struggle for freedom.

Participants also oppose the ongoing repression carried out by the Islamic Republic. Organizers stated they stand in solidarity with the Iranian people’s demands for human rights, democracy and the ideals expressed through the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.

The two-hour gathering will feature speeches, signs and community members calling for peace, de-escalation and an end to violence against civilians.

Motorists traveling along Bridgeway in Sausalito should expect traffic changes Monday as PG&E’s restoration contractor continues work following a previous excavation, city officials said.

Construction is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. between 489 and 525 Bridgeway. Southbound traffic will be shifted onto the center concrete median while crews complete restoration work.

The west-side sidewalk will remain open, although pedestrians may experience brief delays. Workers will be on-site to assist people walking through the construction area, according to city officials.

City officials urged drivers and pedestrians to use caution because of construction crews and equipment in the roadway.

One person was killed and multiple others were injured in a shooting at an unsanctioned party in unincorporated Morgan Hill on Saturday night, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded at 10:16 p.m. to Hale Avenue near Miramonte Avenue following reports of intoxicated people in the roadway and someone throwing bottles at passing vehicles, according to the agency.

Upon arrival, deputies encountered a “chaotic scene” with more than 300 people fleeing the gathering after multiple shots were fired.

One victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The sheriff’s office clarified seven people in total were shot.

Detectives believe a handgun was used in the shooting, which they described as an isolated incident. The party was reportedly promoted through social media, sheriff’s officials stated.

The Morgan Hill Police Department, Gilroy Police Department, California Highway Patrol and San Jose Police Department assisted with the response, scene security, traffic control and the investigation.

Detectives are actively pursuing leads to identify the shooter or shooters in what is expected to be a lengthy and complex investigation.

San Francisco police officers on marine patrol found a person dead in the water west of the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday morning.

The body was found at about 10 a.m. near Point Diablo, on the Marin County side of the Golden Gate channel, according to a statement from the San Francisco Police Department Saturday afternoon.

The body was recovered from the water and will be examined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine an identity.

An SFPD spokesperson did not immediately respond to whether the person was believed to be associated with a boat that capsized on July 14 on its way to Alcatraz.

The boat was carrying 20 passengers who were going to attend a memorial service when it took on a wave and capsized.

One person died and three more people were initially missing after the 49-foot cabin cruiser went down. A person was later found dead in the water on July 16, near Treasure Island.

The search for survivors was suspended the day after the boat capsized, after more than 24 hours of searching by the U.S. Coast Guard and local authorities.

The Hayward Animal Services Bureau named a few kittens up for adoption after some of NBC Bay Area’s reporters and anchors.

The kittens were named Janelle, Velena, Audrey, Marcus and Kira.

Each of the kittens is eight weeks old. The Hayward Animal Services Bureau is open Tuesday to Saturday for those who would like to adopt one of them.

World famous singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran will perform at Levi’s Stadium Saturday night.

The British artist is currently on his “Loop” tour, with one stop in the Bay Area.

This marks the first event at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara since the World Cup.

Crowds have been lining up for hours, and there is a traffic advisory for the stadium and surrounding areas.

For many fans, the excitement started at the Westfield Valley Fair mall, which hosted an Ed Sheeran lookalike contest.

Prizes were gifted to contest winners, where one fan won floor tickets to the show.

Firefighters were battling a vegetation fire in Fremont Saturday afternoon, according to authorities.

Authorities said the fire was initially burning approximately 2 acres in the 41400 block of Vargas Road in Fremont, but the fire later grew to reach 20 acres. Officials said the fire was burning in light flashy fuels at moderate rate of spread with no structures threatened.

Shortly after, authorities said the forward progress of the fire was stopped.

Firefighters were battling a vegetation fire near the border of Solano County and Napa County Saturday afternoon.

The Dutch Flat Fire was burning around 5 acres in the wetlands near Kimberly Drive and Meadow Bay Drive, according to authorities. Evacuation orders were issued, per the American Canyon Police Department, but they were later lifted.

Officials added the fire has a moderate rate of spread and structures are threatened at the head of it. They later said the forward progress was stopped with the assistance of Cal Fire helicopter water drops, but the incident remains active.

The National Weather Service issued a beach hazard statement for beaches across the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast from Saturday through Wednesday afternoon.  

The NSW says cyclones in the Eastern Pacific are pushing a long-period southerly swell toward the Pacific coastline. For that reason, they warned there will be an increased risk of sneaker waves and strong rip currents, with breaking waves of up to 10 feet at Bay Area beaches and the Central Coast from Saturday through Wednesday afternoon.

The NWS warned people to stay off of jetties, piers, rocks and other waterside infrastructure, remain out of the water to avoid hazardous surf and never turn their backs to the ocean.

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Four people were shot in San Francisco after trying to intervene in an argument between a man and a woman early Saturday morning, the police department said.

San Francisco police said officers responded to the 900 block of Market Street regarding a shooting at approximately 12:51 a.m.

Authorities said officers arrived on scene to find four men with apparent gunshot wounds. Paramedics transported victims to a local hospital for non-life threatening injuries, according to police.

The police department reports a preliminary investigation determined that the victims attempted to intervene a verbal altercation between a man and a woman.

The man then pulled out a firearm, shot the four victims and ran away, police said.

The police department said no arrests have been made at this time. They encourage anyone with information is asked to contact the SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.

Thousands of batteries are still inside the Moss Landing Battery Plant after its fire in January 2025, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The fire was ignited by an equipment faliure, but crew members have been working on safely removing the batteries for demolition.

Officials said most of the batteries have now been removed, but about 5,000 are still in parts of the building that are too dangerous or difficult to reach.

The agency says the demolition of the damaged building can begin once all of the batteries have been removed.

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“San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was involved in a car accident last week where he suffered non-life-threatening injuries,” the statement read.

“Coach Shanahan will participate in team activities on a limited basis at the start of training camp while he recovers.”

The veterans are scheduled to report to 49ers training camp in Santa Clara on Saturday. The first practice is set for Sunday.

NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco confirmed the extent of Shanahan’s injuries.

Shanahan’s car crash occurred on July 14, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Nick Wagoner reported Saturday, citing sources familiar with the situation. The longtime coach collided with an SUV near his Northern California home, per Schefter and Wagoner.

Shanahan spent most of July 14 in a local area hospital before being released, per Schefter and Wagoner.

“Coach Shanahan and the 49ers organization would like to sincerely thank all first responders involved for their efforts and care,” the statement read.

Chris Foerster, the assistant head coach, will team up with offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak, defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and special teams coordinator Brant Boyer to handle the head coaching responsibilities during Shanahan’s absence, according to the team.

Shanahan, 46, enters his 10th season with the 49ers, which will tie Bill Walsh for the longest-tenured head coach in franchise history.

Shanahan’s teams have posted a regular-season record of 82-67 (.550 win percentage). The 49ers have advanced to the playoffs five times in Shanahan’s tenure with a postseason record of 9-5.

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Two people were hurt following a house fire in Antioch on Friday, according to Contra Costa Fire.

The fire broke out at a home on Putnam Street, not far from Park Middle School. Two people were taken to the hospital, one of them by air ambulance, according to authorities.

Putnam Street remains closed and people are being asked to avoid the area while firefighters make sure the fire is completely out.

Friday afternoon, a car fire appeared to spread to a nearby hillside between Sunol and Pleasanton. Drivers going northbound on 680 approaching Happy Valley Road saw the flames and scorched hillside. While this brush fire only got up to 5 acres and was quickly contained, it sparked familiar fears for neighbors who recently were on alert for the Little Fire, which happened only a few miles away.

The Little Fire, which started earlier this week and spread to a little more than 1,000 acres in the Pleasanton hills, is 90% contained as of Friday evening, Cal Fire said.

Assistant Chief Steven Blythe with Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit said that the call came out about Friday’s fire at 3:19 p.m. He said that initial reports indicate the fire began underneath a car that was on 680, then spread to the grass on the surrounding hillside. Blythe said this fire is under investigation.

The Koopmann family, who have a ranch just off of 680, confirmed that the fire did reach their property. However, the Koopmanns said that Cal Fire responded quickly and that together they were able to get the blaze contained without anyone getting hurt.

While the firefight and the subsequent cleanup were going on, fire trucks blocked off several lanes of 680 northbound, and evening traffic was backed up for hours.

In the Happy Valley neighborhood nearby, charred grass is visible on the eastern hills where the Little Fire extended earlier in the week. Residents in Happy Valley were not among those ordered to evacuate during the Little Fire, but many were prepared to and felt anxious seeing the large plumes of smoke not too far away.

“I drove home and realized the smoke was basically coming from the hillside behind our neighborhood,” recalled neighbor Kristina Johnson.

She said that other fires have started in the area as well, related to incidents on the freeway.

Many neighbors are feeling especially on alert after the Little Fire and were nervous to see smoke or receive alerts Friday.

“When I got the Watch Duty alert [Friday], I was hoping it was somewhere far away,” said neighbor Dominic Gaiero.

“Then, I saw it was right here, just down the street, and I got really concerned,” he continued.

As for the Little Fire, Cal Fire crews will continue working on it overnight Friday night into Saturday morning, hopeful they will reach 100% containment this weekend.

A man holding an apparent firearm at an assisted living facility died following a police shooting in Fremont Friday, the police department said.

Police said dispatch received multiple calls at around 3:38 p.m. reporting a man with a gun at an assisted living facility on Walnut Avenue.

Authorities said the man was reported to be holding a firearm and carrying a duffel bag. They added he was last seen in a meeting room reportedly holding two people hostage.

Multiple police officers responded and found the suspect holding an apparent firearm, according to the police department. Authorities said an officer-involved shooting occurred, and the suspect had to be taken to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

The facility says the man arrived after a family dispute, though police say they are not yet able to confirm that.

Police said investigators contacted the California Department of Justice’s Police Shooting Investigation Team to take over the investigation upon examining the suspect’s weapon.

Authorities added the investigation is ongoing, and no suspects are believed to be outstanding. They added they do not believe there is a threat to the public safety at this time.

Young Black innovators in Oakland are putting artificial intelligence to work for their community. Kids as young as 11 spent the summer learning to build AI-powered apps designed to solve real neighborhood problems that were important to them.

For six weeks, 26 young Black men from 11 to 25 in Kingmakers of Oakland learned coding, prompt engineering, and software development while building live AI-powered apps focused on issues affecting their communities. A first for the program.

“For our Kings to move from just passively receiving all that’s on their phone and all the programs have to offer them to thinking critically what they are doing with it, how they can create something different and how it’s impacting us as a community,” Kingmakers of Oakland Program Director Kahlil Chatmon.

Working in small teams called Tribes, each group focused on a different community issue—from youth substance abuse and education to resources for foster youth transitioning into adulthood. They also visited Google’s San Francisco campus for a deeper look at AI.

“For our Kings, it’s about building something that can better impact our experience and also create and produce that our people can use that are for us, by us,” Chatmon said.

For Tribe leader Willie Rodgers, a former Kingmakers student now attending Morehouse College, his team’s project focused on closing the resource gap between Oakland’s public and private schools by creating a petition to push for change.

“We are all from Oakland, but we all have different backgrounds, so the fact that we came together to create something that can truly create a change,” he said.

Another Tribe focused on creating a tool for immigrants to report ICE activity. Their app provides a private community watch map and connects users with immigration resources while prioritizing privacy.

“Once we figured out the end goal, using a user’s location for only 30 seconds and once they make a report that data gets wiped off, and stuff like that, they felt relief and pretty proud that they were able to build this app,” Tribe Chief Sanusi Signateh said.

Friday, the young innovators will showcase and pitch their apps to technology leaders, with plans to continue developing their ideas throughout the year. Organizers say the goal is to give them the tools to become leaders in tech and beyond to drive change.

Oakland rapper Mistah F.A.B says he has no regrets after police arrested him on illegal fireworks charges on Wednesday.

“This is the sacrifice you make when you stand up for the community,” he said.

The high-profile artist and community activist, whose real name is Stanley Cox, posted a video on the Fourth of July that prompted police to search his house and businesses.

According to court documents, police found a stolen gun at Mistah F.A.B’s home and multiple boxes of fireworks at his downtown Oakland business Dezi’s Lounge.

“I love my community. As I say if I’m guilty of anything it’s organizing and galvanizing and bringing a safe space for community members from all walks of life to enjoy a good old Fourth of July firework show,” he said.

Mistah F.A.B says setting off fireworks is a neighborhood tradition in Oakland. He insists the event was safe.

“I’m guilty of organizing an event bringing a community together in a village, a kumbaya. So we can have a fireworks show in our neighborhood, where kids can feel safe. I’m guilty of that?” he said.

“That’s not a way to bring joy. It’s about public safety. I grew up here when it comes to fireworks were out of control,” City Councilmember Noel Gallo said.

Gallo says he’s surprised and disappointed. Especially because he says Oakland has worked so hard to send a clear message that fireworks are dangerous and illegal in the city. In fact, fireworks sparked multiple fires in the city over the Fourth of July and left the streets a complete mess. Gallo helped clean up much of the aftermath.

“I think definitely he needs to apologize to the community, the community that we represent that we’re here to serve that has supported us in the past and there needs to be certainly an apology to the neighborhood,” Gallo said.

Mistah F.A.B says he’s staying positive and urges the community to do the same. He says he’s focusing on his next community project: a school supply giveaway next month.

“Showing up for the community and this is what happens. I wanna let the community know I’m not gonna stop showing up for y’all. I’m gonna continue to keep putting on for these kids. Just so these kids can see a positive light in their community,” Mistah F.A.B said.

The artist pleaded not guilty in court Friday morning to two misdemeanor charges of possession of dangerous fireworks and one misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property.

When the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) celebrates this weekend’s opening of a new exhibition by an up-and-coming artist, the guests at the shindig won’t include the artist himself. That’s because artist Orlando Smith will be 16 miles away, locked in San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.

Smith, who also goes by the name O. Smith, is the first incarcerated artist to hold a solo exhibition in the modern art museum, which opened in 1935.

Smith has made a name for himself outside prison walls with his graphic art drawings, which tell poignant stories about life within the prison system as well as national and international politics.

“So far I’ve done about 50-something graphic novels,” Smith said by phone from the prison.

The gallery show features drawings and posters by Smith, done in his comic book style.

“I was in sixth grade the first time I saw the original King Kong versus Godzilla,” Smith said. “And I wanted to draw that King Kong.”

Smith began drawing in the sixth grade growing up in South Central Los Angeles, inspired by Marvel Comics and Batman movies. He drew all the time, even entering a few art contests.

As a young adult, he was pinstriping cars when his clients began to pay him in drugs. He began using and selling crack cocaine, which became a gateway into burglaries. In and out of prison, he eventually earned eight life sentences through California’s Three Strikes Law.

“From there I went into criminality and it landed me here,” Smith said.

Behind prison walls, art became his escape. His illustrations documented life in prison, the plight of older prisoners, as well as what he called “protest posters,” which touched on societal issues in and out of prison.

When the pandemic hit San Quentin, forcing more than two years of lockdown, Smith turned to his pens to tell the stories. Every day alarms went off, cries of “man down” as COVID ravaged the prison. His art veered into the realm of illustrative journalism.

“I just started documenting my daily actives, what I seen, how unprepared the entire world was for the pandemic,” Smith said.

Smith’s images, which he’d mail to friends, began to appear in art shows around the Bay Area, aided by Empowerment Avenue, a group that uses art, journalism and film to create opportunities for people in prison.

Smith’s art grabbed the attention of SFMOMA curator Nancy Lim, who arranged for his solo show in the museum.

“Orlando’s work has been on view around the country and the Bay Area for a number of years now,” said Lim, who first saw Smith’s art in 2021. “I realized how extraordinary it would be to be able to see his works in concentration.”

The exhibit features some 50 of Smith’s works, touching on themes of racial inequality, civil rights abuses and what he sees as failures of the prison system.

Smith recently had his sentence readjusted and now has the potential for parole. He said in recent years he came to grips with his own childhood trauma and the regret for his victims. Now, his steps toward rehabilitation will also include an exhibition in a major art gallery.

“It’s an opportunity, that’s a blessing,” Smith said. “I’m just grateful.”

The exhibit opens Friday and runs through June 27, 2027.

Gas prices in the Bay Area, along with the rest of California and the nation, keep climbing, according to a weekly fuel report from AAA’s regional office in Walnut Creek.

Average fuel prices around the Bay Area include $5.76 in San Francisco, $5.58 in Oakland, and $5.57 in San Jose, according to the statement.

At $5.57 per gallon, a 17-cent increase from last week, California had the highest average gas price in the nation, according to the report.

“Rising crude oil prices are behind the spike at the pump,” said AAA Mountain West Group spokesperson Aldo Vazquez in a statement. “Volatility along the Strait of Hormuz and instability in the region have pushed oil prices into the $90 per barrel range and could continue driving up costs during the second half of the summer.”

The largest component of gas prices at the pump is the cost of crude oil, and the second largest share of retail gas prices is refining costs, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in the Department of Energy.

The price of crude oil on the global market is constantly changing in response to supply, demand, geopolitics and other factors, according to EIA.

National gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.7 million barrels per day, according to EIA. Gasoline demand also increased last week from 8.84 million to 8.94 million barrels per day, which is about 376 million gallons per day.

Daily updates of gasoline prices in California, including major metropolitan areas, are available at gasprices.aaa.com.

The three-day Gilroy Garlic Festival kicked off Friday at the Hecker Pass Outdoor Events Center.

This year, 4,000 tickets were made available each day, Friday through Sunday, and they sold out.

At this year’s festival, people can enjoy garlic calamari, garlic scampi, pasta con pesto, pepper steak sandwiches, garlic bread, garlic fries, and gourmet all combo plates at the gourmet alley. For those brave enough, there’s also the festival’s famous garlic ice cream.

A first-time visitor was South Bay Congresswoman, Zoe Lofgren, who publicly demonstrated how to prepare garlic bread.

“I love cooking, is my favorite thing to do, but the garlic bread I make also has in addition to parsley, it has parmesan cheese that is baked on top and it’s really the best,” Lofgren said.

Founded in 1979, the garlic festival has been a staple in California culinary culture, helping to showcase and celebrate the beloved cooking ingredient.

In 2017, Guinness World Records certified the festival as the world’s largest garlic festival.

In recent years, the festival has faced major challenges. In 2019, three people were killed in a mass shooting and the following year the festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the festival has faced financial strains and was temporarily shuttered for a couple years before returning in 2025.

The Gilroy Garlic Festival Association is a nonprofit organization that has awarded more than $12 million to community schools and service groups, and the entire festival is hosted by volunteers.

For more information on the Gilroy Garlic Festival, people can visit gilroygarlicfestival.com.

Gilroy Jul 23

Tickets for Gilroy Garlic Festival sell out as thousands expected to attend

Gilroy Jul 21

Gilroy Garlic Festival returns this weekend

Authorities conducting human trafficking operations in the Bay Area during the World Cup arrested over two dozen suspected traffickers and provided assistance to dozens of survivors, according to officials.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office on Friday said 53 human trafficking survivors – 42 adults and 11 juveniles – were identified and offered support, 25 suspected traffickers were arrested, and 41 sex buyers were cited during 66 multi-agency operations conducted while World Cup matches were taking place in Santa Clara.

“We are proud that Santa Clara County showcased itself to the world so well and so safely, and with one voice declared our intolerance for the illegal trafficking of human beings,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “We are standing with the survivors and providing them support and services so that they can go on to live a life free of cruel criminal exploitation.”

The survivors were connected with confidential advocates and offered assistance, including safety planning, emergency supplies, blankets, toiletries, temporary housing, and more, the district attorney’s office said.

During human trafficking operations earlier this year for Super Bowl LX, which was also held in Santa Clara, authorities arrested 29 suspected traffickers and identified 73 survivors, including 10 minors, according to the district attorney’s office.

The World Cup task force consisted of an 11-county regional response team of law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, social workers and advocacy organizations. The team was led by the Santa Clara County Human Trafficking Task Force and the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, which monitors human trafficking within the Bay Area.

The district attorney’s office said the task force used regional coordination for combined intelligence and investigative resources to act instantly during the operations. In one case, undercover investigators sent decoy messages to suspected traffickers, leading 13 to be arrested at various hotels on suspicion of felony pandering.

The operation was made up of police departments, human trafficking task forces and sheriff’s offices from cities including San Jose, San Mateo, San Francisco, Mountain View, Hayward, Campbell and Union City. Additionally, the FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Department of State Diplomatic Security Service and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation assisted in the operation.

Two men were sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday for the murder of a rapper.

The killing was part of a chain of retaliatory violence that previously claimed the life of one of the convicted men’s grandmothers, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Ueta Muasika, also known as Juice Boi, died in the shooting in San Mateo on Oct. 30, 2020.

According to an 18-month investigation by the San Mateo Police Department, the motive was revenge. Defendant John Paasi had been in the house when Muasika’s cousin Fifita Tau set fire to a San Mateo home in 2019.

Tau was targeting members of the West Side Tonga gang, whom he blamed for violence against members of Tau’s family in the Eastside Shoreview Crips gang. While Paasi and five others were rescued, Paasi’s 86-year-old grandmother Susana Tonga did not make it out alive.

“I’m make sure Dey feel my pain,” Paasi later wrote on Instagram.

On Oct. 30, 2020 at 9:30 a.m., he and co-defendant Isileli Mahe drove to the home of Muasika and fired 14 shots at him and his 2-year-old son. Muasika died at the scene, while his son was shot once in the face but survived after emergency medical treatment.

Mahe received a life sentence plus six years, while Paasi, who has a previous charge of burglary, received a life sentence plus 12 years under California’s Three Strikes law.

Both had previously been convicted by a jury in March for assault with a semi-automatic firearm and first-degree murder while lying in wait. Lying in wait is a special circumstance under California law that comes with a mandatory sentence of either life in prison without parole or capital punishment.

“Justice was done yesterday,” said District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe. “This was a senseless act that affected the lives of all families, both the families of the victim and the families of the two defendants.”

“Not that there’s ever a good reason to take a life. But for this, a minimal motive, they deserve to forfeit their remaining freedom in this lifetime,” Wagstaffe said.

Before sentencing, San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Michael Wendler heard victim impact statements from five members of Muasika’s family. Wendler ordered both defendants to pay restitution and both were also ordered to undergo genetic marker testing.

Paasi and Mahe’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

After an eight-year wait, the historic third Michelin star that chef and co-owner Val Cantú and his team at San Francisco’s Californios craved is theirs. It’s the first for a Mexican restaurant anywhere in the world. So it’s understandable he and his 40-person staff have more swagger.

“It’s been just really rewarding to see the team kind of like, carry a little bit more confidence in their step,” Cantú told The Associated Press. “Maybe I’ve got some new confidence too.”

The feat caps a trajectory that began with Cantú getting his first star right out of the gate when Californios opened in 2015. He got a second one in 2018. At a June ceremony in San Diego, Cantú, with his wife Carolyn by his side, received his third star and a crisp white Michelin chef’s jacket.

The accolade feels like validation not just for Californios but for the notion that Mexican food in Mexico and across the diaspora can be an elevated experience. Similar to fine dining Chinese restaurants just a few miles away from Californios, Mexican American restaurants have dealt with criticism for daring to charge more and offering tasting menus. Meanwhile, few bat an eye at French and Japanese restaurants with similar prices.

Shoot for the Michelin stars

The Michelin Guide, started in 1889 by French brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin, created a star-ranking system in the 1920s. Today, the guide has ratings for over 40,000 restaurants. To evaluate a restaurant, Michelin sends undercover inspectors posing as regular diners. The inspectors said Californios ascended the ranks because it has never been “afraid to cross borders” on the plate, according to Michelin’s website.

From the first bite, Californios patrons experience the Texas-born Cantú’s blend of Mexican culture with California ingredients. He starts a meal with a sope, a small hand-formed masa cake made with white corn and beans from a farm in nearby Santa Rosa. Then, with a spatula, caviar made in partnership with a Sacramento sturgeon farm is carefully placed on top.

“It’s just really, really delicious and kind of feels like a warm hug,” Cantú said. “It feels comforting.”

Michelin inspectors agreed.

Californios deserved a three-star promotion, one of five inspectors said on Michelin’s website, for dishes consistently “executed with such precision, refinement and clarity without losing the Mexican identity — things like kombu or the matsukasa yaki fish taco.”

Sometimes Cantú and his team would try to guess if a diner could be an inspector. That turned out to be a good reminder that “every guest gets the same quality of presentation and hospitality,” the chef said.

Mexican food’s growing recognition comes as immigration enforcement gets harsher

In the past few years, Michelin has starred a number of Mexican restaurants including a 10-by-10 foot (3-by-3 meter) taco stand in Mexico City. The growing recognition comes at a precarious time for immigration enforcement policies and the treatment of immigrants — even those in the U.S. legally.

Not someone who seeks to inject politics into food, Cantú could not ignore constant headlines about federal immigration operations — some of which have resulted in deaths including a Mexican man in Houston and a Colombian man in Maine earlier this month. Immigrants are “the backbone of all these dish pits and kitchens,” Cantú said. He has shown support through gestures. In March, he collaborated on an “anti-ICE” fundraising dinner.

“The culinary world is like a huge supporter of immigrants and the need for immigrants and the need to treat people with respect,” Cantú said. “It’s hard for me to say much more.”

Being in a blue state, Cantú is certain most of Californios’ diners share that sentiment.

Gustavo Arellano, a food writer and journalist who’s also Mexican American, believes the cuisine’s popularity really helps humanize the immigration debate.

“You see this especially like in small Southern towns where the rhetoric is ‘I’m against illegal immigrants. I don’t want too many Mexicans,’” Arellano said. “But, then they look at the Mexican restaurant in town and they’re like ‘Well, not them.’”

Californios shows Mexican food is just as worthy of fine dining

Growing up, Cantú watched his father and uncle in Texas run a Mexican restaurant and tortillería. As a chef working at high-end establishments in Austin and San Francisco, he found himself asking, “Why is no one doing Mexican cuisine and treating it with like extreme care?”

Inspired by the Bay Area, he settled on the name Californios. It’s a nod to descendants of Spanish and Mexican settlers who settled in the 1700s and 1800s in what would become California.

Californios started with a $57 four-course tasting menu. The pushback was immediate.

“There was a ton of like, ‘This is not Mexican cuisine,’” Cantú said. “Even from our families, you know, trying to explain a contemporary cuisine to a lot of people is totally foreign because people kind of think that cuisine exists in a cookbook and that it doesn’t change.”

Californios is at the forefront of what some call “alta California” cuisine, where the children of Mexican immigrants or immigrants themselves use classical chef training with Mexican flavors. The term refers to the former Spanish province north of Baja California; Arellano describes it as an “ideology” that originated in California and has spread across the U.S.

Raised flavor profiles and prices ultimately raise skepticism. Arellano argues people think this way partly because they’re trying to keep Mexican food in a box.

“There’s always going to be a knee-jerk reaction,” Arellano said. “It goes to this myth that Mexican food should be cheap because Mexicans, all of us are supposedly working class that cannot afford higher-end stuff. That’s classist.”

Cantú plans to keep bringing attention to his Mexican-California brand of fine dining. A cookbook is in the works.

“Mexican cuisine is one of the most diverse and complex cuisines in the world,” Cantú said, “and there’s countless Mexican immigrants in the United States and Latin immigrants who have their own ideas and concepts of what things can be.”

___

Tang reported from Phoenix.

Nearly 150,000 California voters had their mail-in ballots rejected for the state’s June primary, a spike from recent elections even as the state attempts to make voting easier with the goal of boosting participation and counting every ballot.

California has become notorious for its ponderously slow vote counts that can drag on for weeks and sometimes longer, largely the result of multiple changes over the years that were intended to increase turnout but have done little to achieve that. Among the changes: Every voter receives a mail-in ballot that can arrive at an election office seven days late and still be counted, provided the envelope is postmarked by Election Day.

Yet even with that generous weeklong window, the primary driver of the higher rejection numbers is late-arriving ballots, according to data compiled by the secretary of state’s office. Voting experts suspect the main problem is postmarks on ballots that came after Election Day, making them ineligible to be counted. The culprit could be U.S. Postal Service changes that might affect the timing of when postmarks are applied.

Late-arriving ballots drove the rejections

According to state data, 148,241 mail ballots were rejected in the June election, or a rate of 1.73% of all mail ballots.

In raw numbers, that’s up from the 2024 primary, when 108,982 mail ballots were rejected, or a 1.56% rate. In 2022, 105,818 mail ballots were voided during the primary, or a rate similar to 2024.

Lateness accounted for 93,479 rejected ballots in June, by far the largest category for disqualifying a ballot. That was up from about 70,000 in the 2022 primary and about 76,000 in the 2024 primary, though turnout in those elections was smaller compared to last June.

Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said the jump in rejected ballots because of lateness is a major concern that — along with postal procedures — might also be connected to a late surge in ballots in June. Many voters waited until the final days to make a decision in a wide-open and chaotic race for governor.

“Ballots rejected due to lateness are caused primarily to being postmarked too late to count, not because they arrived too late to count,” Alexander wrote in an email.

Rejection rates have fluctuated over time, but the growing number of those set aside for lateness compared to recent elections “does really demand the question why this is happening,” said Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy, a nonpartisan research group.

Lawmakers concerned about USPS postmark changes

In January, a group of mostly Democratic U.S. senators sent a letter to the U.S. Postal Service, alarmed that mail-processing changes might affect postmark dates for mail-in ballots during an election year that will determine control of Congress.

Updated agency policy says postmarks might not indicate the first day the Postal Service received the mail, but rather the day it was handled in one of its processing centers. Those centers are increasingly likely to be further away from certain communities because of recent consolidations within the Postal Service, which could further delay postmarks.

On Thursday, two Wisconsin Democrats, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Gov. Tony Evers, called on the Postal Service to address delays that caused hundreds of ballots to arrive after Election Day in the state in April. In June, a federal judge halted President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to create a federal voter list and limit who can receive a mail ballot.

Earlier this year, California election officials urged voters to send their mail ballots early, warning that Postal Service changes could lead to slower mail service.

In California, the highest mail ballot rejection rate in June — 3.52% — was in Tulare County, in the agriculture-heavy Central Valley. It was followed by Alpine County, south of Lake Tahoe, and Merced County, also in the Central Valley, which both notched a 3.36% rejection rate.

Mismatched signatures and multiple ballots in an envelope

Nearly 44,000 ballots were set aside because the voter’s signature didn’t match the one on record with county officials. Over 8,300 ballots were rejected because there was no signature on the returned ballot envelope.

In 743 cases, the voter had already cast a ballot, so the mail ballot was voided. Other reasons for rejection included a ballot being missing from the return envelope, or multiple ballots were sent back in a single envelope.

The data didn’t break down the uncounted ballots by party registration.

Florida, Texas and other large population states quickly wrap up vote counting, while California is a national laggard.

After the June primary, President Donald Trump seized on California’s reputation as the national slowpoke in vote counting to renew his long-standing criticism of the state’s elections, while the Republican’s Department of Justice launched an investigation into Los Angeles County’s elections.

There is no indication of any widespread problems with mail voting, which has gained in popularity among Democrats and Republicans alike. A report by the Brookings Institution published in 2025 found that the number of cases of mail voting fraud was minuscule — about four cases per 10 million mail ballots.

LeBron James won’t be teaming up with Steph Curry and Draymond Green this season.

The 41-year-old is signing with the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year, $8 million contract with a player option, his agent, Rich Paul, told ESPN on Friday.

James will link up with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and V.J. Edgecombe.

As NBA free agency opened on June 30, the Warriors believed they had a legitimate shot to lure James to the Bay Area. Green declined his $27.7 million player option for the 2026-27 NBA season to give general manager Mike Dunleavy as much financial flexibility as possible.

Golden State’s dream scenario reportedly was to acquire All-Star center Anthony Davis from the Washington Wizards — which would have required trading Jimmy Butler — and then sign James, creating a Big Four with Curry and Green.

But the Wizards indicated that they had no desire to move Davis.

So, in the end, James settled on a more attractive option.

Now, Dunleavy and Co. must pivot to see if there are any additions they can make to give Curry, Green and a rehabbing Butler a better chance of competing for an NBA title.

James had been Warriors CEO Joe Lacob’s white whale for a few years. He tried to acquire the 22-time NBA All-Star as far back as the Feb. 2024 trade deadline, but agent Rich Paul reportedly opposed such a move at the time.

And the Warriors pushed again for a James trade last summer as they tried to work out a contract with then-restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga.

This time around, the Warriors didn’t have to go through another team to try to get James. They just had to convince him and Paul that the Bay Area was the best place for him to spend his 24th NBA season.

Paul even acknowledged that the Warriors were among the 10 teams best suited for James’ services, including “Steph + Dray” on a whiteboard listing the franchises under consideration.

But as James’ pending decision dragged into late July, it seemed less likely that he would pick the Warriors.

And now the Warriors’ dream of pairing James with Curry and Green is over.

It’s time to move on.

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A big rig crash is impacting traffic Friday on Interstate 238 in San Leandro, where lanes won’t be cleared until at least 3 p.m., according to Caltrans officials.

The California Highway Patrol said the crash happened shortly before 3:20 a.m. on northbound I-238 just before the interchange with Interstate 880.

According to CHP, the truck, which was carrying more than 40,000 pounds of fruit, struck a sand barrel after the driver fell asleep. The impact caused the barrel to explode, scattering sand across the freeway. The truck’s axle was also ripped from underneath the vehicle.

Officials said the crash damaged the center median and left sand and fuel in the roadway.

No injuries were reported.

As of about 12:30 p.m., the number one northbound lane was open, as was the number two lane on the connector to southbound I-880, according to the CHP.

Caltrans initially estimated that the crash would be cleared by noon but has pushed that time back to about 3 p.m. Motorists are urged to seek alternate routes.

Bay City News contributed to this report

The Gilroy Garlic Festival returns on Friday, and tickets are already sold out.

Organizers increased the daily attendance cap from 3,000 to 4,000 people. They say this year is about building on last year’s success while returning to the festival’s roots.

“It’s a lot of work, and it’s absolutely a labor of love. None of us would be here if we didn’t love the festival,” Entertainment Chair Lauren Mantani said.

The garlic is ready, the merchandise is stocked and vendors are prepared to welcome thousands of visitors this weekend.

This is just the second year the festival has been held at the Hector Nishiyama Park Outdoor Event Center. The event was canceled from 2020 through 2024, first after the deadly 2019 mass shooting and then because of the COVID pandemic.

This year, 4,000 tickets were made available each day, Friday through Sunday, and they sold out.

“Every year we will try to increase the attendance. We’ve sold out again, second year in a row, so it does say that the demand is there. So, because the demand is there, we have the capability to increase that attendance and we will absolutely,” Garlic Festival President Alex Misa said.

Mantani has been part of the Gilroy Garlic Festival her entire life. She says this year’s event is focused on bringing back the traditions people remember.

“It’s different in a lot of ways, but so much of it is the same and that’s what has us so excited,” she said.

From garlic ice cream to live music, to chef demonstrations, Gourmet Alley is expected to be one of the biggest draws again this year, known for its signature recipes and its towering flames.

Last year marked the festival’s return. This year, volunteers say they’re welcoming people back with even more confidence.

“This time last year we were a little nervous, anticipating what it was gonna be like and the vibe was incredible and we brought that energy going into this year,” Mantani said.

Parts of downtown Santa Rosa closed on Thursday for the filming of a movie scene featuring actors portraying immigration agents. City leaders notified the public in advance, saying some of the scenes could appear realistic.

D Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets was closed as crews filmed a scene for the independent film named “The silence we flee”, featuring actors portraying immigration agents.

“The movie is about people running, and running for redemption,” said Hasan Mageye, director of the film.

The film follows an African immigrant seeking asylum in the United States. Mageye says the story explores some of the challenges immigrants may face after arriving in this country.

“When people run to places of safety and then they stumble into a resistance which does not allow them to stay,” he said.

The city also posted a notice on social media ahead of filming, warning that some scenes could be mistaken for an actual immigration enforcement operation.

Officials say they provided additional notice, including bilingual messaging, to help avoid confusion.

“We know it’s really sensitive and we understand why it’s sensitive towards our community, so we did bilingual messaging and a much higher level of noticing than we would normally do for a film, because we really want to make sure that people knew and that they didn’t mistake it for actual immigration enforcement activity,” City of Santa Rosa Spokesperson Misti Wood said.

With the street closed, people walking by the set stopped to see what was happening.

“Movies being filmed in our city are always kinda cool regardless of the premise,” Santa Rosa resident Briana McCrea said.

Vikram Badhan, a nearby business owner, says he was pleased to see the production filming in Santa Rosa and appreciated the subject the film explores.

“As the biggest city in Sonoma County, it’s very important to take the progressive step. Be featured in historic moments,” Badhan said.

The production says it does not plan to film any additional immigration enforcement scenes in Santa Rosa after Thursday.

Video showing a Ukrainian woman being arrested by immigration agents at San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday is drawing attention and raising questions about how the arrest was carried out. This comes alongside a spike in similar stories around the country since June, a trend that has attorneys cautioning their clients not to fly.

Video taken of this incident shows a woman in a white shirt and dark pants on the ground outside a store inside SFO, while two men — who appear to be dressed in plainclothes — pin her to the floor.

The woman shouts out, “You’re choking me!” and “Please help me!” as people gather around and ask the men what they are arresting her for.

At one point, the woman shouts out, “I’m from Ukraine!”

Doria Robinson, who happens to be a city council member for the city of Richmond, was in the airport just before 7:45 p.m. that evening. She was waiting to board her flight at the time and recorded video of the incident, which has since been shared by many different accounts across social media.

Robinson said she was inside the Harvey Milk Terminal at the B7 gate, already past security, when she heard “a woman screaming at the top of her lungs.”

“I looked across, and I saw two men taking a woman who was in a shop across the way, pulling her down to the ground, getting on top of her as she’s screaming,” Robinson recalled.

Initially, she said she wondered if it was a domestic violence incident or human trafficking. But as Robinson walked towards the commotion, she realized something else was going on and began recording with her phone. Robinson estimated that hundreds of people around the terminal were also watching this unfold.

Robinson said that she did not see the two men wearing any clothing or identification showing who they worked for. Also, she said, despite questions from the crowd about who they were with, the men refused to answer. Ultimately, she said the men handcuffed the woman and carted her away in a wheelchair.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed to NBC Bay Area that on July 22, ICE arrested a Ukrainian woman named Iryna Gorb at SFO. The spokesperson added that when officers approached Gorb, “she attempted to flee and resisted arrest.”

DHS said Gorb lawfully entered the U.S. in 2010 on a visa that allowed her to stay in the country until the end of May of 2011. DHS said Gorb overstayed her visa and stayed in the U.S. for 15 more years.

“She will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings,” the DHS spokesperson said.

Several immigration attorneys told NBC Bay Area they had seen the video of this arrest on social media.

“You could hear the fear and the pain in the woman’s voice,” said Bay Area immigration attorney Ghassan Shamieh.

Shamieh does not represent Gorb, but said the video was chilling for him to watch. He said that he and other immigration attorneys in his circle have noticed a spike in detentions at airports in the past few weeks.

Shamieh said four of his clients have been detained in airports, including one last week at SFO. He added that of his clients who have been detained at airports, none of them have criminal records.

“That’s why advocates and immigration attorneys alike are advising clients not to travel via plane even domestically within the United States,” Shamieh said.

As for Robinson, she said she is disturbed by this arrest and wonders what will happen to Gorb.

“What we do know is we were complicit in it, and there was nothing we could do to help her, and that was just demoralizing, just painful,” Robinson said.

A spokesperson for SFO told NBC Bay Area Thursday that the airport doesn’t have any details about this incident “apart from what we’ve seen on social media.”

The spokesperson noted that ICE and DHS are federal agencies operating outside the jurisdiction of U.S. airports.

“As a result, we are not involved in any decisions about their operations, nor are we notified when they occur,” the spokesperson continued.

The window failure that sent shards of glass plunging from the 17th floor of a high-rise in San Francisco’s Financial District is being attributed to heat fluctuations, according to a violation notice issued by the city’s building inspection department.

No one was injured when pieces of glass fell from the Front Street side of the 24-story high-rise at 150 California Street. The window that broke had been heat treated, according to the violation notice, and was protected by a laminated coating intended to keep glass from breaking apart should the window get hit by something or crack suddenly.  

The city inspector who issued the notice of violation, Matthew Sum, wrote in the narrative that he observed the glass break free and fall onto a sixth-floor rooftop patio. In the notice, Sum quoted the building engineer at 150 California as saying the window failed “due to thermos change.”  

Building officials late Thursday clarified the notice language should read, “thermal change.”  While experts say it is rare, heat treated, laminated windows have been known to fail when heat builds up in the space between panes, and that pocket of air expands.

A photo taken Wednesday shows extensive cracking in a third-floor window of the high-rise as well, that one glass expert we spoke to says is consistent with a thermal-related failure of a laminated glass pane. 

The building management did not respond to requests for comment for this story. Earlier, officials had said they were cooperating with authorities in the aftermath of the incident.

Santa Clara County officials are cracking down on properties with overgrown vegetation as part of an effort to reduce fire danger.

Inspectors with the county’s Weed Abatement Program conduct weekly inspections, looking for properties that pose a fire risk.

On Thursday, inspectors identified a property off Old Oakland Road where overgrown vegetation was growing near homes.

“We’re looking for anything that can be a fire hazard and create a fire risk,” Weed Abatement Manager Garik Iosilevsky said.

The county will send the property owner a notice ordering the vegetation to be cleared. If the work is not completed before a second inspection about two weeks later, the owner will be charged an inspection fee and receive another cleanup notice.

Iosilevsky added that if the property remains out of compliance, the county can hire a contractor to remove the fire hazard. The cost of the cleanup is then added as a special assessment to the owner’s property taxes.

County officials say about 2,000 properties are currently on the inspection list, and they remain on the list for three years.

East San Jose property owner Yuan Fang said he didn’t realize his nine-acre property was on the weed abatement list when he bought it two years ago.

Fang said he thought grazing horses and goats on the property would address the vegetation but was later charged inspection fees.

Fang said one bill included a $953 parcel fee and a $1,383 administrative fee. He said one of his neighbors was billed more than $8,000 after the county hired a contractor to perform the work.

Iosilevsky said it had to be done.

“California has really had a lot of devastating wildfires that have caused a lot of loss of property and loss of life,” Iosilevsky added. “And that’s our main goal, to prevent this from happening in Santa Clara County.”

Property owners can contest the fees during an annual hearing. Fang said he wants the county to lower the fees, calling them excessive.

Fang has a year to get off the inspection list.

Oakland rapper Mistah F.A.B. was arrested on Wednesday following a three-week illegal fireworks investigation, according to police.

On July 4, Mistah F.A.B. posted an Instagram video that was, in part, what prompted Oakland police to launch the illegal fireworks investigation.

Oakland police served a search warrant on multiple locations tied to the rapper, whose real name is Stanley Cox. Police said they recovered two guns, one that was stolen, and multiple boxes of fireworks. In a second post on July 4, Mistah F.A.B. seemed to try to distance himself from the fireworks.

Mistah F.A.B. is well known in the community. He organizes annual turkey giveaways, holiday toy events and school supply drives. Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee even partnered with Mistah F.A.B. on an Oakland children’s reading program.

Oakland Jan 18, 2024

Bay Area rap legend Mistah F.A.B. featured in new Oakland mural

Oakland Jan 5, 2024

Mistah F.A.B. holds ‘Thug Therapy' to discuss mental health at Oakland's Merritt College

Lee declined to comment on Mistah F.A.B.’s arrest, saying it’s an active investigation.

Mistah F.A.B. has also received a lot of attention for his mental health forums called Thug Therapy – gatherings aimed at young men of color, designed to encourage them to open up about their emotional struggles and get support.

“I see Mistah F.A.B., Stanley Cox, as a local hero, so there’s not much he could ever do that would jade my perception of who he is and how he operates for some of the most disenfranchised individuals in the Bay Area,” said Gigi Crowder, head of National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Contra Costa County.

Crowder has collaborated with the rapper. She said she’d rather focus on all the good Mistah F.A.B. has done.

“Even though we have these allegations about a missed step he has taken, I always judge people on the 99% of the time they get it right,” she said.

NBC Bay Area tried to reach out to Mistah F.A.B. but was unable to connect. He posted on Wednesday urging people to stay positive.

“I know if he had the fireworks it’s his attempt at bringing joy and have something positive happen for people who might not have the opportunity to enjoy fireworks,” Crowder said.

Nearly 70 current and former tenants of the Oakland Station apartments – all seniors or people with disabilities, or both – filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing the building’s owners and managers of negligence, elder abuse, harassment and other civil violations.

The 181-page lawsuit alleges residents were lured in with the promise of luxury senior living but instead endured years of unsafe conditions, repeated elevator outages, security failures and severe cockroach infestations at the affordable housing complex.

“Overrun with trash, debris, feces, unhoused trespassers, drug use, drug paraphernalia, rodents, and cockroaches, the Complex trapped senior tenants in the most vulnerable and unsafe housing conditions and had virtually no usable amenities,” the lawsuit alleges.  

The suit follows months of organizing by residents, who filed complaints earlier this year with the city and confronted building management over conditions at the property. 

Now, they’re taking them to court.

“The people that we’re representing are retired nurses, retired teachers, retired AC Transit workers,” attorney Rahman Popal said. “And they come back to the conditions here which are not safe and unsecured and completely dirty and uninhabitable.”

The lawsuit also raises questions about how the project was first developed and marketed

It alleges the Oakland Station was promoted as a luxury affordable housing community for seniors in order to attract tenants and secure development incentives, including housing tax credits. But last year, citing high vacancy rates and other factors, the building’s owners – Oakland Pacific Associates – were granted permission from the city to open the property to tenants of all ages.

But the lawsuit alleges those empty units were caused by “unsafe and unhealthy” conditions, reduced services, and limited access to parking. 

“Our lawsuit looks at the entire history of this property from the very beginning,” Popal said. “This was passed and sold as an affordable housing complex for senior tenants. And the ownership group secured housing tax credits that greatly benefit them.”

The lawsuit describes dozens of alleged problems, including building-wide heating and plumbing issues.

Paula Reed, 75, is a cancer and stroke survivor. She alleges in the lawsuit that her bathroom plumbing was not working for about a week and had to use makeshift alternatives.

“I was using a pai,l and I was using plastic bags,” Reed said.

Additionally, the civil complaint describes a time when Reed was displaced from her apartment for almost two months due to flooding at the complex and was promised reimbursement for a motel. But she was never paid back, according to the lawsuit, “forcing the senior, low-income Plaintiff to shoulder the costs of displacement.”

Nearly every tenant in the building who spoke to NBC Bay Area told stories about cockroaches. Roach motels and bug-killing powder are common sights throughout the hallways and inside tenants’ units.

Claudia Alejandre says cockroaches have even crawled inside the CPAP machines she and her husband use to sleep at night, so she now has to tape them shut.

“We found roaches inside swimming in the water container,” Alejandre said. “It was a really stressful situation.”

The lawsuit also details numerous safety concerns, notably a broken exterior gate that remains open and allows anyone to enter the building. 

Tenants regularly encounter trespassers using drugs, along with “sex workers, and others camping through the building,” according to the lawsuit.

“People off the street living in the hallways,” said Williams, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran. “I had my car stolen.”

He said he’s taken his complaints to building management, run by a San Diego company called CONAM, but has been met with “no communication and a lack of concern.”

Another plaintiff in the suit, Saffiya Usman, said the building got so dangerous she had to move out. The lawsuit alleges that she was assaulted and robbed in the building’s elevator last year.

“He pushed me and knocked me down, and my head hit the back of the elevator,” Usman said. “He grabbed my bag and ran out.”

Usman said she filed a report with police, but the man was never caught. 

Records from the Oakland Police Department show officers have responded to more than 50 calls at the property in the first four months of 2026 alone, for reported robberies, trespassers, car burglaries and more.

“That was the most terrifying and frightening experience that I have ever had,” Usman said.

The building’s elevators are a major concern among tenants, particularly those with disabilities, since they “have broken down over 30 times,” according to the lawsuit.

When the building’s elevators were out of service for four days in 2024, according to the lawsuit, Oakland firefighters were forced to carry a paralyzed tenant down six flights of stairs during a medical emergency.

A spokesperson for the Oakland Fire Department confirmed the incident. 

During the outage, tenants like Rose Luster-Brooks said they were trapped in their apartments. 

“Everybody was stuck, and it was hard for people like me that’s in a wheelchair,” Luster-Brooks said. “But the office never came up and said, ‘Hey, y’all need some water? Is there anything we can do to help you?’ They never checked on us.”

Neither Oakland Pacific Associates nor CONAM responded to NBC Bay Area’s request for comment.

In a March letter to tenants, however, management said it remained committed to operating the property in compliance with applicable laws and lease agreements. 

They added that the building’s heating system has been fixed, common areas are cleaned regularly, and that the building has a security team, though it’s not in place 24 hours a day.

With the help of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), the tenants’ complaints and organizing efforts caught the attention of city officials earlier this year. Several city council members have toured the property and the city said May code enforcement inspections led to notices of violations, including for pest-related issues.

But Popal said there were opportunities for the city to intervene earlier and more aggressively, citing code enforcement visits to the property going back to 2023.

The lawsuit seeks damages and court orders requiring the owners to address the alleged conditions at the property.

“We’re demanding accountability,” Popal said. “These tenants didn’t come to me about money, they came to me because they want to be able to sleep at night.”

San Francisco on Thursday took another step toward revamping its strategy to build more affordable housing in the city.

The plan now involves letting private developers focus primarily on market-rate housing, while the city invests more money in building affordable units.

“The two pieces of legislation are, one, lowering the fees that the city charges to developers of housing, market-rate housing, to incentivize them to pull permits and start building now,” Supervisor Myrna Melgar said. “And for the affordable housing developers, we are telling them there is going to be a whole bunch of new money coming your way so that you can start building affordable units again.”

The city is seeing home prices surge as artificial intelligence drives up incomes, creating an even bigger shortage of high-end housing as well as affordable housing.

“It is the entire spectrum of housing that is suffering,” Melgar said. “For working class people, we are committed to producing affordable housing and also to protect our rent-controlled housing stock.”

The Little Fire that started Tuesday near Pleasanton in Alameda County is now at 75% containment as of Thursday afternoon, with the fire holding at 1,007 acres.

Cal Fire said overnight crews worked Wednesday night to Thursday morning to strengthen control lines and contain the blaze. Firefighters plan to continue working throughout the coming days.

On Tuesday at about 2:40 p.m., the Little Fire broke out near Vallecitos and Little Valley roads in the Sunol area of Alameda County. Cal Fire and Alameda County Fire Department crews responded to the brush fire.

According to a social media update from Pleasanton Mayor Jack Balch, there were five mandatory evacuation zones after the initial report. The zones included 6,098 residents and 1,906 structures threatened.

On Wednesday afternoon, all orders and warnings were lifted, and the blaze was considered “no longer a threat,” the county Office of Emergency Services said.

One firefighter suffered minor injuries after an engine rolled over and has since been released from the hospital. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The annual San Francisco Marathon will take place on Sunday, July 26.

Runners will begin the race at Mission Street and The Embarcadero, with the first group departing at 5:15 a.m.

There are six length options to choose from with various course paths, which can be found on the event website.

The following neighborhoods will face road closures and public transportation disruptions during the event, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).

• Financial District
• Marina
• Presidio
• Outer Richmond
• Golden Gate Park
• Haight Ashbury
• Mission
• Potrero Hill

San Francisco Marathon street closures

Many streets will shut down for various hours during the event. Check out the breakdown below, provided by the SFMTA.

Saturday, July 25 – 9 p.m. to 12 p.m.

• Embarcadero between Folsom and Washington

Sunday, July 26 – 12:01 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Northbound Embarcadero between King Street and Broadway
• King between 3rd Street and northbound Embarcadero
• Steuart between Howard Street and southerly terminus
• Howard between The Embarcadero and Spear (local access allowed on Howard and Steuart streets)
• Southbound Embarcadero between Broadway and 3rd
• Eastbound Washington between Drumm and Embarcadero
• Embarcadero between Broadway and Jefferson
• Jefferson between The Embarcadero and westerly terminus
• Van Ness between North Point Street and northerly terminus
• Westbound Beach between Marina and Baker
• Haight between Stanyan and Buchanan
• Scott between Haight and Waller
• Waller between Scott and Buchanan
• Buchanan between Haight and Market
• Hermann between Buchanan and Laguna
• Duboce between Market and Guerrero

Sunday, July 26 – 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

• Spear between Howard and Folsom

Sunday, July 26 – 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

• Westbound Beach between The Embarcadero and Polk
• Polk between Beach and North Point
• Westbound North Point between Polk and Van Ness
• Southbound Van Ness between North Point and Bay
• Westbound Bay between Van Ness and Laguna
• Northbound Laguna between Bay and Laguna
• Howard between The Embarcadero and Spear
• Spear between Howard and Harrison
• Jefferson between The Embarcadero and Leavenworth
• Westbound Beach between Leavenworth and The Embarcadero

Sunday, July 26 – 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

• Folsom between The Embarcadero and Spear
• Spear between Folsom and Harrison
• Harrison between Spear and Main
• Main between Harrison and Bryant
• Bryant between Main Street and The Embarcadero
• Northbound Embarcadero between Broadway and Beach
• Grant between North Point Street and The Embarcadero
• Westbound North Point between Grant and The Embarcadero
• Spear between Howard and Folsom

San Francisco Marathon Muni service changes

The following Muni routes will be subject to delays, reroutes or cancellations. For more detailed information with times and alternate stops, visit the SFMTA website.

• F Market and Wharves
• N Owl
• N Judah Bus
• T Third Street Bus
• 6 Hayes/Parnassus
• 7 Haight/Noriega
• 8 Bayshore
• 12 Folsom/Pacific
• 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express
• 19 Polk
• 22 Fillmore
• 24 Divisadero
• 27 Bryant
• 29 Sunset
• 30 Stockton
• 33 Ashbury/18th Street
• 37 Corbett
• 39 Coit
• 43 Masonic
• 44 O’Shaughnessy
• 55 Dogpatch

Those who plan to use Muni on Sunday are encouraged to contact the San Francisco 311 Customer Service Center for information on alternate routes and travel plans.

Rowena Brown, Oakland’s at-large city councilmember, was assaulted and robbed “by an acquaintance she had been supporting through a difficult time,” her office said Thursday.

The alleged assault and robbery happened last weekend in Oakland, according to Brown’s office. She sought medical treatment and is recovering.

“She remains focused on her recovery and on continuing to serve the Oakland community,” Brown’s office said in a statement.

The alleged attack happened at Brown’s West Oakland apartment early Sunday morning, according to court documents. Oakland police said officers responded at about 12:45 a.m.

According to investigators, Brown asked 38-year-old Ashatae Millhouse, who also goes by “Tae,” to leave the apartment after what Brown described as escalating behavior. As Millhouse walked toward the door, she punched Brown twice, knocking her to the ground, according to court documents. Millhouse allegedly then strangled Brown, who was eventually able to escape the apartment. Investigators said Millhouse then took Brown’s purse and two cellphones before leaving.

Oakland police arrested Millhouse in Livermore on Tuesday. She appeared in court on Thursday to face felony charges, including first-degree residential robbery, assault by force and false imprisonment. A judge ordered her to undergo an assessment by a rehabilitation facility. She is being held on $125,000 bail and is due back in court on July 30 to enter a plea.

Millhouse is a founder of a nonprofit that organizes music events focused on mental health and violence prevention. She has posted several photos with Brown on social media, including during Brown’s 2024 campaign. Earlier this year, Millhouse announced she had been appointed to Oakland’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission by Mayor Barbara Lee and Brown. NBC Bay Area reached out to the commission but did not immediately hear back.

A large overnight fire at a recycling center in San Jose has been extinguished.

The fire was reported at about 1:39 a.m. Thursday in the 200 block of Leo Avenue, near Monterey Road. Firefighters arrived to find multiple large piles of burning debris outside an abandoned warehouse at the recycling center.

Crews used aerial master streams and hand lines to knock down the flames by 2:09 a.m. The fire was brought under control at 2:37 a.m.

Smoke from the fire was visible from Highway 87. All units have since cleared the scene.

No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

It is the kind of development once seen only in science fiction: An artificial intelligence system, trained to probe for digital vulnerabilities, breaks free of human control and acts on its own to hack another company.

The attack announced this week by OpenAI, which blamed rogue AI models, underscored the blistering growth in the technology’s capabilities. For many, it also added urgency to questions about whether and how it can be prevented from causing mayhem on a bigger scale, with more serious consequences.

In what OpenAI called an “unprecedented” episode, the company said its advanced AI models used stolen credentials to break into the servers of an AI startup. It started in what was supposed to be a “highly isolated” testing environment, with reduced guardrails, before the AI agent found its way onto the internet.

But the disclosure brought a told-you-so moment for researchers who have called for a slowdown of AI development and warned for years that the technology could pose existential risks to humanity. In its wake, experts have called for improved testing by the AI companies and more dialogue between the U.S. and China to come up with shared solutions.

“I think we’ve got to take this as a warning shot to not make them smarter, and that probably is going to require global collaboration,” said Nate Soares, co-author of the 2025 book “If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies.”

The hack could pressure companies to improve containment

If a model can decide to do something unethical, illegal or harmful on its own, what — if anything — can humans do to prevent it from doing so?

OpenAI said it had tasked the AI models involved with pursuing “advanced exploitation using complex attack paths” to test cyber capabilities, but the technology went to unexpected lengths. It apparently decided on its own to target Hugging Face, a well-known AI development hub and marketplace, to obtain information it needed to carry out a task.

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OpenAI says AI models acted on their own in ‘unprecedented' hack of another company

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Zahra Timsah, the co-founder and CEO of governance platform i-GENTIC AI, said she expects the incident to increase pressure on OpenAI and its competitors to complete rigorous testing and explore containment more thoroughly before AI systems are made accessible to the public.

Monitoring an agent’s behavior after the fact, as OpenAI is now doing with its investigation, is no longer enough, she said. “It’s like having a seat belt, air bags, brakes, everything in the car. It should be there before the car starts driving,” Timsah said.

The disclosure comes amid heightened concerns about the cybersecurity capabilities of powerful models. In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a framework for the federal government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems for up to a month before their public release.

OpenAI said Thursday that it briefed the White House this week about the Hugging Face attack.

Other experts see the event as a sign of AI’s growing pains

Some experts say the hack is part of the trial and error that comes with improving cybersecurity capabilities and is no cause for panic.

“We’ve been dealing with people creating cybersecurity attacks for as long as the internet has existed. And one of the interesting properties of these language models is that the same capabilities that make them able to perform cybersecurity attacks also allow them to do cybersecurity threat analysis and make cybersecurity defenses,” said John Thickstun, an assistant professor of computer science at Cornell University who studies methods that control the behavior of AI models.

The disclosure has raised skepticism from those who say it advantages OpenAI to make its technology seem scarier. Given that humans at OpenAI had decided to turn off some safeguards for the test, some have argued the outcome should not have been terribly surprising.

Thickstun noted the disclosure plays into the need of OpenAI, a startup working toward a Wall Street debut, to raise money.

“The story that they’ve been consistently telling over the lifetime of this company is a story about how dangerous their models are, which their investors read as a story of how powerful their language models are,” he said.

The disclosure renews calls for more regulation

The hack renewed calls in some corners for increased regulations and oversight of AI companies.

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat, wrote on social media: “We need regular mandatory independent safety testing and oversight, mandatory disclosure of security incidents, and international cooperation to keep people safe from absolute disaster.”

Soares, director of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, said the U.S. will need to open talks with its biggest AI competitor, China, something he thinks is not as outlandish as it might have seemed even a year ago. China’s leader Xi Jinping warned at a conference just last week of the need to keep AI from evading human control. And after an early aversion to regulating AI, Trump’s administration has grown more restrictive at reining in cybersecurity risks.

“A lot can change when the national security community starts to notice that they have a serious threat,” Soares said. “Will this wake them up? Hopefully. I’m not sure. If this doesn’t, maybe the next incident will.”

AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio said on social media the episode is deeply concerning and should serve as a “wake-up call.”

“Continuing on the current trajectory of AI development will likely lead to an increase in concrete cases of autonomous cyberattacks as well as other high-risk incidents of misaligned and dangerous AI behavior,” said Bengio, a professor at the University of Montreal. “We urgently need to take action to prevent these situations, rather than attempting to clean up the damage after the fact.”

Republican Steve Hilton launched his general election campaign for California governor Wednesday with a gambit to win over left-leaning voters who dominate the state: Even if they loathe President Donald Trump, he said, they should consider voting for him.

During an event in Los Angeles, against the backdrop of a stinking, scorched food warehouse he described as a symbol of the state’s political incompetence, Hilton rolled out a list of campaign promises clearly aimed at residents buckling under California’s notoriously high cost of living. He vowed to bring the price of gasoline down to $3 a gallon, about half the current cost, cut residents’ utility bills in half, now among the nation’s highest, and eliminate state income taxes on the first $150,000 in earnings.

He blamed the state’s problems — from homelessness to low student test scores — squarely on Democrats, who hold every statewide office and supermajorities in the Legislature. He called Democrats a “rotten regime that has abandoned the working class.”

In his campaign remarks and ads he took out in leading newspapers throughout the state, Hilton addressed his relationship with Trump, who has endorsed him in the race.

“This is not about who you hate in Washington. It’s about what we love about California and what we can do to make California once again the best place anywhere in the country to start and raise a family, to start and run a business,” he said before a small group of supporters. “That’s what this election is about.”

Hilton’s maneuver is meant to create a sliver of distance from Trump without breaking from him. It’s a tacit nod to the political math in California, one of the nation’s most solidly Democratic states. Registered Republicans are outnumbered nearly 2-to-1 by Democratic voters, and a GOP candidate hasn’t won a statewide election since 2006.

Trump is widely unpopular in California outside his loyal conservative base. In 2016, Trump lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton by 30 points; in 2020, he lost to Joe Biden by 29 points; and in 2024, he lost to Kamala Harris by 20 points.

California is regarded as the home of the so-called Trump resistance, where Democrats have effectively used Trump as a foil in campaigns to motivate voters. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom essentially nationalized the state’s fight over Proposition 50, which recast U.S. House districts to favor Democrats, by framing it as a confrontation with Trump. The measure notched a 29-point win.

The campaign of Hilton’s Democratic opponent, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, scoffed at the notion of Hilton being a change agent.

“Californians already know who Steve Hilton is: Trump’s puppet in California. His campaign is a promise to run our state the way Trump runs the country and we’re not buying it,” campaign spokesman Jonathan Underland said in a statement.

As for Hilton’s pitch that voters who dislike Trump should feel free to consider him in November, Underland said, “Steve Hilton cheers on a president whose illegal war has sent gas prices soaring and illegal tariffs have cost California families more than $2,500 this year alone. You can’t fix the affordability crisis while carrying water for the man causing it.”

In a heavily Democratic state, Hilton’s campaign is hoping his appeal to Democrats and independents will “give voters a permission slip” to look past the letter next to a candidate’s name, even in a nation deeply divided by partisanship.

“You do have a choice if you think that this state is going in the wrong direction,” he told supporters at a kickoff event in Boyle Heights, a Los Angeles neighborhood where residents have been complaining about the stench of rotting food, flies and rodents that followed a fire last month at a cold storage warehouse.

He was accompanied by Gloria Romero, a former Democratic state lawmaker who switched parties in 2024 and is this year’s Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. She delivered her own address in both English and Spanish, with supporters holding “Hilton-Romero” signs in the background.

Becerra, a former state lawmaker, congressman and state attorney general, is heavily favored to win the seat now held by Newsom, a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate who is barred by law from seeking a third term. Hilton and Becerra emerged from a chaotic primary election in June that had more than 50 candidates on the ballot.

The race is unfolding at a time when California is facing multiple crises. Despite billions in spending, homelessness remains widespread, especially in larger cities. Multibillion-dollar budget gaps are projected into the future. Home prices remain out of reach for many residents. The home insurance market is in disarray, businesses and residents have been fleeing the state, and residents contend with some of the nation’s highest gas prices, taxes and utility bills.

Making good on his campaign promises won’t be an easy task for Hilton, a former adviser to ex-United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron who has never held elective office. The governor doesn’t control the oil or utility markets, but Hilton says he will get rid of mandates, taxes and fees that drive those prices higher. He also would likely need the consent of a Legislature controlled by Democrats to change the state’s income tax structure.

Hilton crowned his campaign kickoff with a 30-second TV ad underscoring the financial challenges for many families.

“Life here has become impossible for anyone who isn’t already rich,” he says. “Let’s fix California.”

A San Francisco couple is asking for the public’s help finding their dog after the pet went missing more than a month ago in Monterey County.

Luca disappeared while in the care of a pet sitter near the Laguna Seca Golf Ranch on June 26. Since then, his owners have remained in the area, determined to bring him home.

The couple is asking anyone who may have seen Luca to report sightings through their Nextdoor page or to the SPCA.

More than a month after Luca’s disappearance, the owners say they remain hopeful.

“We’re asking everyone, please keep your eyes peeled,” said Megan Kao, one of Luca’s owners.

The couple is also offering a reward for Luca’s safe return.

Police in Vallejo are investigating the city’s seventh homicide this year after a woman was found beaten to death, the department said Wednesday.

On Monday just before 2:30 p.m., officers were informed of a possible deceased person near Georgia and Steffan streets.

Officers arrived and found an unresponsive woman near the landscaped interchange infield between the Interstate Highway 80 eastbound ramp and Steffan Street. Medical first responders declared the woman deceased.

Detectives and the coroner’s office at the scene saw injuries on the woman and she was taken for a further examination by a medical examiner, police said. On Wednesday, the medical examiner determined she sustained blunt force trauma that led to her death. The woman’s identity is being withheld pending confirmation.

Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact Detective Stephanie Diaz at 707-648-5430 or via email at [email protected], or Detective Zach Horton at 707-648-5425 or [email protected]. To remain anonymous, please call the tip line at 1-800-488-9383.

Santa Clara County prosecutors have ruled that two police officers acted lawfully when they fatally shot a Fremont man who charged at them with a knife moments after he killed his 9-year-old son in a San Jose park last summer.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office’s investigation found the officers reasonably believed they and others faced an imminent threat when Mateusz Dzierbun, 48, ran toward them with a knife raised over his head at Cataldi Park on July 13, 2025.

“The officers were confronted with an extraordinarily dangerous and rapidly evolving situation,” the District Attorney’s report read. “The evidence before them indicated only two possibilities: either Dzierbun had already murdered his son, demonstrating his homicidal intent, or the child had been stabbed by Dzierbun and required immediate lifesaving aid.”

According to the report, Dzierbun called 911 at 3:23 p.m. and initially claimed another man had stabbed his son before later telling the dispatcher that he had killed the child, saying, “They were going to torture him… I had to do it.”

When Officers Eduardo Eyer and Kevin McAlindon arrived about eight minutes later, they found Dzierbun sitting on the grass about 50 feet from his son’s body while holding a knife. The officers repeatedly ordered him to drop the weapon so they could reach the injured child.

Instead, Dzierbun told officers, “I am armed, and one of you guys is going to kill me today. I don’t want to traumatize you.” He later added, “Whoever killed someone before needs to be here.”

As Officer McAlindon moved to retrieve a stun gun, Dzierbun warned, “If you get the stun bag, I’m going to get up and charge this guy,” according to the report.

Body-worn camera footage reviewed by prosecutors showed Dzierbun then stood, raised the knife above his head and ran toward the officers. Sgt. Joel Casey and Officer Eyer opened fire, striking him 14 times.

According to the report, Officer Eyer later said, “I need to save myself and my partners here… I wanted to save that kid.”

When officers reached the child, they found he had already died from his injuries.

The fatal stabbing and police shooting unfolded while a group nearby was taking pickleball lessons, according to the report.

San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph previously said investigators believed Dzierbun intended to die in a “suicide by cop.”

Morgan Hill police are investigating two copper wire theft incidents that left some streets in a neighborhood in the dark.

Morgan hill police said the first theft happened Saturday and the second early Wednesday morning in the Community Park neighborhood.

Police say the thefts caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage and repair costs.

“We’ve been here 28 years. I can’t see how somebody could steal all that copper wiring up and down the block without the police or some witness seeing it,” Ernesto Lopez said.

Copper wire theft has been an ongoing problem across the Bay Area.

Last year, thieves stole copper from lighting along a stretch of interstate 680 in San Jose, leaving parts of the freeway dark.

Earlier this year in Richmond, hundreds of streetlights also went dark after copper was stolen.

“Copper theft has been an issue for quite a number of years because it’s easy access, and it they can take it to a number of reciclers and get cash, and as we all know metals have done nothing but increase in value,” Law Enforcement Analyst and former SJPD Officer Michael Leininger said.

Leininger says preventing these crimes is challenging.

“You’re generally relying on recyclers to follow the law and report suspicious persons or incidents,” he said. “Law enforcement, PG&E, the light companies, all need to take a step back and look at how these wires are contained and perhaps come up with a different containment system.”

Leininger says surveillance cameras can be a key investigative tool as detectives look for any video that may have captured the thieves. Anyone with information is asked to contact Morgan Hill police.

A new California law will require all public schools to have students limit phone usage during the day.

Oakland Unified School District is the last to announce this change.

For the upcoming academic year, texting, calling and scrolling will be prohibited. Students will be required to store their phones in locked spaces from the beginning to end of the school day.

Elementary students will store them in classroom lock boxes. Middle and high school students will lock theirs inside pouches they’ll carry—but won’t be able to open.

“It’s going to take some getting used to, there is going to be some growing pains but we are prepared for it,” OUSD spokesperson John Sasaki

The state’s goal is to increase face to face interaction, prevent cyberbullying and have less distractions during class.

The policy is required for all California public schools, however each district will implement it differently.

Some districts, such as Oakland, will ban phone use during passing periods and lunch rather than just class time.

Researchers tracked more than 43,000 schools nationwide and found locking phones away cut student phone use, but didn’t lead to immediate improvements in test scores, attendance, or cyberbullying. Co-author of the report Thomas Dee says more research is needed to evaluate long-term benefits.

“It may be that phones were never fundamentally the problem or alternatively, it may be that phone bans do not go far enough. We hear from some schools that things like online bullying have simply shifted from phones to laptops and other devices,” he said.

Several Bay Area districts that have already gone phone-free say they’ve seen students more engaged in class and a decline in harassment.

OUSD’s policy will go into effect on Aug. 10.

It has a longstanding reputation in Northern California as a commuter school.

Police are calling it a "random act of violence."

At first, authorities described the death as "suspicious."

The contentious lakeside spot had been threatened with development for years.

Detectives say they believe more victims have yet to be identified.

A massive plume of smoke was visible Thursday afternoon around Hunters Point. 

The man was last seen on July 13.

The latest death happened near Kimtu Beach in Humboldt County on Wednesday afternoon.

A "perfect combination" of hot and humid weather can help mosquitoes flourish.

Flames are burning east of Kings Canyon National Park and the Pacific Crest Trail.

A guide to street closures during the weekend of the SF Marathon.

Vanderbilt University is set to open a flagship arts campus in SF next year.

Law enforcement responded to reports of demonstrators throwing rocks on Tuesday.

The Modesto girl drowned in a popular Central California lake.

Monsoonal weather patterns are weakening as temperatures start to rise.